So I have been kicking around the idea of starting a 40k blog for a while now, but I was not really sure where I wanted to go with the concept. There are so many blogs out there, with so many different ideas, and outlooks on 40k and gaming in general. Some are what I'll call hobby blogs, the focus on painting or modeling, or the artsy side of our hobby. Some are news oriented, where they drop rumors, tournament results, etc..., others still are tactics blogs where the blogger(s) try to advise the community on the whole on what they believe are the best army lists or tactics.
So, while I was thinking about this I knew I could rule out some of these blog types as an option. I knew I would not be writing a hobby blog for a couple of reasons. Fist of which is, I'm not particularly good at it. I am a decent painter, people have told me my models look nice, or that some of my conversions are cool, but I am not a great hobbyist. I don't delude myself into thinking I am going to win best painted at the GT level, nor would I know how to describe any of my painting techniques to others (I read some painting rubrics and have no idea what some of the stuff on them even means). Secondly, painting and modeling is not what gets me excited about playing the hobby, playing the game is what got me into the hobby and what keeps me in the hobby. I also ruled out doing a news blog, as that type of thing does not really interest me, nor do I have any sources to quote concerning anything GW is developing in the future. Anything, I know about 40k rumors are already well publicized.
So given that I settled on doing a tactics blog. But I wanted to try do do it in a different way than what I have seen in the past. Which brings me to the blog title. Grokking 40k...for those of you who are not big sci-fi readers, the term Grok was created by Robert Heinlein in his 1961 novel Stranger in a Strange Land, and means to understand so thoroughly that the observer becomes a part of the observed. In other words to Grok is to have a very deep understanding of a particular concept/idea etc.. As far as the blog goes this means, that I am going to try to deepen my own understanding of tactics in 40k as well as that of the community. So many tactics blogs tend to be here is this epic list, play it and you will win, with little to no advice on why the list is good. The same is true on forums, many people just say don't take x unit, take y it is better, this does not help anyone understand the game better.
What I want to do is create a blog where feed back is useful, where my readers (and myself) better understand the game through dialogue. Where I actually try to use different ideas in actual games and see how they work(I love math hammer, but it only goes so far.).
All that said the most important thing I want to establish is my attitude on the blog. "I am not a better player than you." Heck, I would not even call my self a great player. I am an above average to good player. I am one of the best players in my local area. I win far more than I loose. I have a firm grasp on the rules. But, I am not a GT champ, or an Ard Boyz finalist. I can learn as much from you as you can from me. My intent is to put out interesting strategies, lists, and ideas that will make people think. Maybe get people to move out of their comfort zone, and at the end of the day, make everyone involved a better player.
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